This information-packed, highly visual baking book opens with detailed descriptions of equipment—from the basics to the special tools for the more ambitious baker. Standard baking ingredients are then explained, along with helpful tips on working with them, followed by a handful of fundamental baking techniques, each presented in step-by-step photographs and text. Eight chapters are filled with more than 130 recipes, ranging from everyday baking powder biscuits to elegant custard-filled éclairs, and layer cakes for special occasions; each chapter introduction includes additional specific information and explains such techniques as how to knead bread dough, how to frost a cake, or how to fold puff pastry.